


The Cursed Black

by Return009



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Pirates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:06:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22339750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Return009/pseuds/Return009
Summary: All Bellatrix wants to do is get her ship back.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Bellatrix Black Lestrange
Comments: 17
Kudos: 123





	1. Chapter 1

The plank creaks loudly under her shifting weight as the strong wind of the sea blows through her dress, trying to knock her off balance. Behind her, Greyback is cheering for her demise with the cowards she used to call her crew licking his boots now that the tides have changed. He laughs as he flings slurs at her back. Bellatrix would break his neck right now if she weren’t bound by these ropes. In the corner of her eye, she can see Voldemort’s motionless form watching her inch towards the edge, making sure that she does indeed jump into the water. If she gets out of this one alive, he will be the first one she’d pay a friendly visit to. 

“The bitch deserves it!”

Her crew joins in on the laughter,and Bellatrix fights the bile rising up her throat at their betrayal. _The fucking mutineers! They will pay for this!_

“Bella. Bella. Bella.” Voldemort finally breaks his silence, his tone dripping with condescension now that he’s moved up in rank. Greyback motions for the men behind him to quiet with a swift raise of his sword. “You were a smart and able captain. But you were too arrogant for your own good. While you were busy planning your next attack on unsuspecting ships, I was converting your crew one by one.” 

Bellatrix looks in his direction and spits. It misses Voldemort by more than five feet, but she sees the hatred building up in his eyes and the way his lips thin like they are holding back unimaginable anger. Did he expect her to bow down to his greatness and kiss his feet while at the very edge of the plank of her own ship?!

“Don’t speak to me, dirt! I trusted you and you betrayed me. You’re going to pay for this!” 

Greyback, who Bellatrix is quickly starting to learn is Voldemort’s new lapdog, climbs onto the plank angrily. His sudden weight nearly causes her to fall over.

“Don’t speak to our new captain that way!” He scowls.

“What? Did I hurt your feelings? You and your new master can go to hell. You’re both filth!”

“Enough! Greyback, hurry up and finish her off.” Voldemort turns around and retreats into his cabin, deciding that he’s had enough with the show. He knows that there’s a slim chance Bellatrix will be able to survive these shark infested waters. 

“Aye, aye, Captain!” 

Bellatrix hears a low chuckle before a strong hand lays on her back. It pushes and then tugs at her corset, playing a dirty game of killing her and then saving her. Deciding that she’d die with integrity before letting this filth toy with her, Bellatrix twists out of his grasp and jumps straight into the cold water.

It immediately surrounds her - the sheer bite of it - and drowns out the laughter from above. She struggles with her bonds, tugging at it from all direction, as the air in her lungs begin to expire. The skin around her wrists start to burn from being stretched too far. _Goddammit! I can’t die this way!_ A strong tide pushes at her side as the traitors sail away on The Cursed Black, leaving Bellatrix behind with about twenty seconds of time left to determine her own fate.

\---

When she awakens, it is to the sound of seagulls flying circles above her. There are five of them, she counts. _Am I dead?_ But soon, Bellatrix realizes that she’s just lying flat on her back staring up at the sky. She squints at the bright sun threatening to blind her. A hand moves to shield some of the light, only to have a billow of sand land on her face and cause her to launch into a coughing fit. She would throw up, but there’s nothing in her stomach to make it even worthwhile. She doesn’t know how long she’s been laying here for, but it must have been days based on the way her skin burns and her legs wobble when she stands on them. 

_Where am I?_

She looks around and sees nothing but sand, save for some palm trees here and there. It’s an island, she’s sure of that. Bellatrix can see where the land meets the sea at all corners. 

“Hello?!” She yells out, but the only response is the sound of startled seagulls. Great. Just great. Bellatrix wonders how she’s managed to survive walking the plank, only to starve to death on a deserted island. Deciding that she needs to get out of the sun to at least clear her mind, she makes her way to some palm trees that might offer her a reprieve from the heat.

She falls down on her butt the second her skin hits the shade. _Where am I?_ Nothing looks familiar to her. How can it? It’s all water. The memory of her crew and Voldemort’s betrayal rushes back when she looks down at her wrist and sees rope burns. A loud shriek erupts from her thinning frame, and she takes her anger out on one of the trees nearby with the last ounce of energy remaining in her system. The palm tree shakes from her punches and kicks, and then something heavy falls from above and lands on the ground next to her with a thud, only missing Bellatrix’s head by mere inches.

She looks at the coconut and a painful smile draws at her lips. Voldemort has not rid the world of Bellatrix Black just yet. She is going to survive, and she is going to come back for her damn ship. 

\---

Narcissa likes to take strolls along the cobble streets of Kilsburg because it helps clear her head. It’s one of the rare times that she gets alone to herself without feeling the burden of an entire trading company sitting on her shoulders. These days, with Lucius gone and Draco quickly losing interest in a desk job, Narcissa has taken on the responsibility of the head of Malfoy Trading. Three years she’s dedicated her life to the role. During that time, Malfoy Trading became one of the most prosperous businesses in Europe, making her face nearly as recognizable as the one on their coin.  
  
“Madame Malfoy.” A gentleman in a nice black suit tips his hat at her in passing, and she acknowledges him with a polite nod despite not being able to draw a name for the well dressed man. He must be visiting Kilsburg because there’s not a family worth more than ten thousand pounds in town that she is not acquainted with. She walks another fifty steps before a group of young girls stop her to ask about the scarf she’s accessorized her outfit with.

“It is from France,” she answers and their jaws drop open. “A friend of mine was kind enough bring it back for me.”

“I will count myself lucky to be half as successful as you are when I grow up, Madame Malfoy.”

“We all do.”

Narcissa quietly listens to the young girls fawn over her life, smiling at the fact that they all speak about paving their own path to success rather than marrying a rich man with a noble title. Times are definitely changing. As a woman, she faced a lot of adversity and discrimination from men who couldn’t even be bothered with acknowledging her presence at the table when she first assumed her role at Malfoy Trading. It wasn’t until she turned the business around that they started to treat her as an equal.

“Do you think we are capable of it, Madame Malfoy?” 

“Women are some of the most tenacious creatures ever,” she says, turning to leave but purposely leaving behind her scarf. “Don’t forget that.”

The girls’ animated chatter continue to follow her even as she disappears from their view around the corner. 

“My, my, sister. It looks like you’re quite the popular figure.”

The sound of that familiar, taunting voice she thought was lost, perhaps buried deep in the sea somewhere in the Carribean, makes her still in her spot.

“What? Not happy to see your dear old sister now?”

If it weren’t broad daylight outside, Narcissa would have guessed the person standing in front of her to be a ghost. Three years, she thought her sister to be dead. And here she was, sneaking up on her on a street in Kilsburg like they just had tea together the other day. 

“Aw, don’t play coy, Cissy. Haven’t you —” 

Narcissa blinks away her anger long enough to pull Bellatrix into a nearby alleyway, shielding them from possible prying eyes of any passing Gryffindors. 

“Where have you been, Bella?” She finally lets go of her wrist but not without noticing how bony it was.

“Oh, you know, here and there,” Bellatrix drawls. Narcissa is certain that her sister meant to sound indifferent but her response came out as weak instead.

“I thought you were….killed at sea.”

Bellatrix’s face flickers with something akin to regret before it’s replaced with her trademark scowl. “It takes more than a ship full of pirates to kill me, Cissy.” She snickers and dismisses Narcissa’s comment with a wave of her hand. But Narcissa can tell from her sister’s sunken cheeks and thin frame that where ever she was coming back from had not been kind to her during those three years. 

“Bella…” She takes one step forward, ready to embrace her troubled sister. Even as a little kid, Bella would come home with cuts and bruises all over her face from fighting with the other kids. And she’d walk through their front door with such pride and arrogance, chin held high - like right now.

“I need one of your ships,” Bellatrix says abruptly. She crosses her arms in front of her chest, as though offended by something Narcissa just did. 

“How could you—” For once, she would like to sit down and have a normal dinner with her sister without this whole pirate nonsense getting in the way. She sighs, forgetting her anger altogether when Bella pushes out her lower lip into a pout. Some things never change. 

“Bella, come home and have dinner with me first. You look like you haven’t eaten in weeks.” 

Bellatrix scoffs at her sister’s words. “I don’t need a meal. I need a ship.”

“And I need my sister, and Draco needs his aunt.” 

Bellatrix narrows her eyes at Narcissa, refusing to let up but Narcissa simply stands there holding her gaze. 

“Fine.”

She hears Bellatrix mumble something under her breath to the effect of _always tricking me_ as she links their arms together and pull Bellatrix along. She tries to keep them close to the inside of the sidewalk along the storefronts, cautious not to draw any kind of unwanted attention to Bellatrix. She doesn’t know the full story of why her sister’s been missing for the past three years. Perhaps, she’d be able to pry it out of Bellatrix over dinner. But she’d reckon that it wouldn’t be a wise decision to let it get out that there was a spotting of the notorious Bellatrix Black in Kilsburg when she was supposed to be dead. 

“I don’t know how you do it.” Bellatrix quirks an eyebrow at Narcissa’s quiet musings but doesn’t question on. They pass by an open door to a shop smelling like cinnamon apples and she notices her gaze lingering on it.

“You come back from where ever you’ve been for the past three years looking like you shed a quarter of your body weight.” Bellatrix turns her head back around to look at Narcissa. “And you’re still easily the most captivating person on this street. These people cannot stop staring at you.” 

“It’s because I’m dressed in all black,” Bellatrix says, suddenly distracted by the smell of popcorn coming from another shop. 

“Yes, but — Wait, turn here,” Narcissa urges Bellatrix left when she notices two Gryffindors talking to a working girl at a corner. The last thing they need is a duel in the middle of the street. 

“Don’t even start with me, Bella,” Narcissa fixes her gaze ahead, determined to get them back to Malfoy Manor without alarming the red coats. “You’re not in the right state to even squash a bug right now. I can’t have you picking a fight with those Gryffindors.”

Bellatrix snorts despite being able to pick out the truth from her sister’s words. 

“So how are the little ones doing?” 

“They’re not little anymore, Bella. You’ve been gone for three years. Draco is nineteen now.” Narcissa’s grip tightens on Bellatrix’s arm as they make their way through the backstreet, dodging mysterious looking puddles when Kilsburg hasn’t gotten any kind of rain in three days. 

“Shit.” Bellatrix’s brows crinkle with confusion. “What about Tonks?” 

“She’s fine.” Narcissa says, a bit too abruptly.

Five feet ahead, they spot a rat scurrying across the pavement, nearly earning a yelp from Narcissa. 

“Really, Cissy. Don’t fucking drop me because you’re afraid of a little rodent.” 

Narcissa wraps an arm around Bellatrix’s slipping frame and tries to pull her upright. “How in the world did you manage to make it to Kilsburg in this state, Bella?”

Mumbling something incoherent, Bellatrix reaches for Narcissa’s arm to steady herself but grabs a hand full of dress material instead. And before Narcissa knows it, she’s carrying Bellatrix’s limp form in the middle of the alleyway.

“Bella!” Narcissa whispers loudly. 

\---

“Is she dead?”

“No, she is not dead, Draco.”

“Then why has she been sleeping for so long?”

Bellatrix hears the hushed whispers from the foot of her bed. Two distinct voices - male and female. Young. Even in her haze, she can gather that much. 

“Oh! I think she’s waking!”

Whoever the boy is, he is not doing a good job at being discreet. 

“Haven’t your mother taught you any manners?” Rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, Bellatrix was ready to lash out at the two people disturbing her precious sleep. 

“You’re awake!” They say in unison when they catch her opening her eyes. Wait, has she died? Bellatrix thinks of it to be an interesting type of hell where she’s greeted by a lanky boy with severe yellow hair and a girl who looks like she might be on a permanent rebellious streak. 

“Who the fuck are you two?” Bellatrix snaps. The boy is the first to falter, clearly intimidated by the infamous Captain Black despite the fact that she is still lying flat on her back. 

“Aunt Bella, Mother brought you home and—”

“Draco?” Her mind somehow manages to put together that piece of information rather quickly. She remembers the last person she saw before she blacked out. So she isn’t dead. Draco smiles nervously at Bellatrix and nods his head. 

“And Tonks,” The girl next to him offers - much more confidently than Draco. Bellatrix moves to sit upright on the bed. She’s still weak, but a comfortable bed and some much needed sleep did wonders for her body and mind.

“This is all nice and cute, but why are you two here? Where is Cissy?” Bellatrix demands, growing impatient with the way the two of them keep staring at her like she was some exotic animal. 

“Mother is at the office right now. She asked that we tend to you in case you were to wake up.” 

“How long have I been asleep for?”

“Two days.” 

“Two days!” At Bellatrix’s outburst, Draco immediately shrinks behind Tonks, effectively using her as a human shield. _He must get it from Lucius._ Tonks shifts uncomfortably under Bellatrix’s glare as she tries to disentangle herself from Draco’s death grip. But he moves left when she does and sways right when she does. 

“Draco!” Tonks manages through clenched teeth, unable to tear her eyes away from Bellatrix’s scowl at their antics. It’s been three years since they’ve seen her. And while Bellatrix was scary back then, three years trapped on an island can turn scary into other dangerous things people in civilized societies won’t understand.

“Two days!” Bellatrix launches herself out of the bed with such fury that it causes both Draco and Tonks to retreat a few steps backwards. Something soft rubs against her calf, and Bellatrix looks down to find that someone’s changed her into a white night gown. And of course, her black dress is nowhere in sight.

“I’m going to kill Cissy!” She shouts as she starts pulling drawers out of their place and turning over anything large enough that can hide a dress. Articles of clothing and a few pieces of furniture are flung on the floor in mayhem as Bellatrix threatens to murder her sister again if she isn’t able to find her dress. 

“Please-don’t.”

The sound of a quiet plea momentarily stops Bellatrix’s rage. She blinks in surprise at Tonks, who is looking at her with unsure eyes. Behind her, Draco finally manages to speak up. “Y-Yes. Please don’t hurt my mother.”

“Idiots.” She turns back around and tugs at the bedsheets, which comes off the bed in one easy sweep. Pillows and blankets are pulled along with it, leaving behind a bare mattress and still no black dress in sight. 

“Your dress has been sent out to be cleaned.” Narcissa calls out from the door. Her eyes skim over the mess on the floor and she shakes her head disapprovingly. At the other end of the room, Draco and Tonks’ faces light up with relief at her arrival. But then they quickly remember Bellatrix’s threat.

“Really, Bella. Couldn’t you have waited for me to get home before trying to destroy my home?”

Bellatrix kicks at the lamp she’d thrown on the floor. “Give me my dress back, Cissy.”

“I just told you that it was sent out to be cleaned.” Ignoring Bellatrix’s tantrum, Narcissa walks over to a pillow discarded on the floor and picks it up. She shakes and pats it a few times and then moves on to the next salvagable thing she could find. 

“Well go and get it back!”

“Bella, come down for dinner first and we’ll talk about it. You need some food in your stomach.”

Draco and Tonks stare in disbelief at Narcissa’s unconcerned reaction to Bellatrix as she continues to collect items from off the floor.

Scowling, Bellatrix starts to make her way over to Draco and Tonks. They gasp at this change in the situation, fearing the worst. But before any limbs are broken to make an example to Narcissa, Bellatrix stops a few feet short of them and bends down to retrieve a dark blue dress from the floor. There’s a bit of huffing and puffing as she crosses the room for the washroom. And it isn’t until they know that an entire door is separating them from Bellatrix that Draco and Tonks let out a heavy sigh.

“I am sure a few years of my life are shaved off every time I have to deal with your aunt.” Narcissa sets the lamp back on the bedside table and the pillows on the bed. A frown slips on her face as she finally gives up on cleaning up the mess herself. “I’ll have to send Dobby up here.”

She looks back at Draco and Tonks who are now gawking at her like she’s just tamed a lion with her bare hands. She ignores their reaction all the same and gracefully leaves the room but not before telling them that they must wash up for dinner as well. 

\---

There is an awkward silence that fills the dinner table the moment Bellatrix sits down. She makes no attempt to acknowledge the other three people already seated, still miffed about losing her dress this morning and having to prance around in this blue getup like a little puppet. 

“I’m glad you’re here, Bella.” If Narcissa is at all bothered by her rude behavior, she doesn’t let it show. That was one of the things about her younger sister that Bellatrix found peculiar - no matter what happened, she always knew how to keep her cool. Sometimes she wonders if Narcissa’s like a broken ship - still operational but clearly not doing its job right. _How could a human being be so calm all the time!_

“Only because I want my dress back.”

“You’ll get it back eventually.” 

An elf enters the room with their first course of the night, and the smell of the food makes Bellatrix salivate. But she feigns indifference despite this being her first real meal in a very long time. Sparing a glance at the two youngsters at the table, she notices Tonks trying her best to ignore Narcissa while Draco has not lifted his eyes from his empty dinner plate ever since she sat down. 

“Careful, dear. If you stare at that plate any harder, you’ll burn a hole through it. Let’s not make a larger dent in your mother’s bank account.” 

Draco chuckles at this, momentarily forgetting who’s talking to him. 

“What’s so funny, boy?”

He gulps, regretting his decision almost immediately. Carefully, he raises his head to meet her questioning glare. His bottom lip quivers with each syllable that comes out. “I…W….We”

“Out with it! I don’t have all day!” 

The little elf, who at Bellatrix’s outburst stopped serving Narcissa mid-scoop, looks like he wants to retreat under a rock to get away from her.

“Boo!” She jumps out of her chair at him, hands making like claws. 

“For Merlin’s sake.” 

The words barely leave Narcissa’s lips before the dish falls onto the table with a loud clang and the elf is leaping out of the room without sparing a look back at his master. Keeling over in laughter, Bellatrix couldn’t help the tears springing from her eyes at the ridiculous little species that scares so easily.

“Are you done?”

Bellatrix wipes away the moisture at the corner of her eyes and smiles devilishly back at her sister, who is now tapping her fingers on the table impatiently. “Hardly. I’m just getting started!”

“You just scared away my house elf. So now we have to serve the food ourselves.”

Finishing the task that the elf was doing, Narcissa helps herself to half a serving of food, as usual, and then passes the dish over to Tonks. It eventually makes its way around the table to Bellatrix and she wonders if she’s having another one of her hallucinations about food when the aromatic smell of herbs and roasted chicken crawl her up nose. If she is, this is the most real it’s ever been. She stabs into the piece of meat with her fork and sees heaven when she takes her first bite.

For the next twenty minutes, they eat in silence, save for the occasional sip of water and utensil working against the plate. This was mostly due to Bellatrix shifting her focus onto eating her food instead of scaring house elves and people who isn’t her sister. 

“Bella,” Setting her fork down, Narcissa picks up a napkin and pats at her lips gracefully before continuing, “Where have you been the past three years?”

“Well…” Shifting some of her weight onto the table, Bellatrix leans across as if she’s about to reveal a secret. The heaviness of two additional set of eyes fall on her and she glances over in Draco and Tonk’s general direction. Of course, they try a little too hard to act as though they’re not paying attention to her conversation with Narcissa by shoveling large forkfuls of food in their mouths. She smirks, “What lovely kids you have.”

Tonks’ cheeks flare red at the obvious mockery. She sets her fork down and finishes chewing, no longer taking to the food on her plate. 

“Aunt Bella, I would also like to know where you’ve been the past three years.”

Her question stuns Bellatrix. How dare she question me! Then from the corner of her eye, she sees Draco raising his hand, “I…I would also like to know where you’ve been.”

“What is this? Interrogate Bella Day?”

“Bella…We thought you were dead.” 

“I might as well be! What do you care as long as you get to live your cushy life?!”

“Stop that! I sent ships looking for you.”

“You’re a liar.” 

The words hurtling out of Bellatrix’s mouth make Narcissa recoil in her chair as though physically hurt by them. Her normally cool sister hardly manages out a whisper of her own retort. “I’m not.”

“She’s really not, Aunt Bella!” Somehow, Draco finds his voice amid their argument to defend his mother. “She sent four ships out to sea to look for you. And she only called off the search after half a year when word came from Nocturnal Island that you died at sea during a battle with the Gryffindors.”

_Bastard! How could he dishonor my name by spreading the rumor that I’d been defeated by a red coat!_

Bellatrix scowls at the thought of her name being drag through the dirt and spit on by Voldemort and his crew. “The bastard wishes that I was dead!”

“Who?”

“Voldemort.”

“Wasn’t he your second in command?”

“Yes, he was until he betrayed me and made me walk the plank of my own ship!”

Draco, who is now listening to Bellatrix recant her story of betrayal with full attentiveness, looks like he’s living vicariously through her despite how utterly gruesome the experience must have been. Stupid boy.

“So this island that you were trapped on for three years, what’s it called?” Narcissa questions on, trying to understand how Bellatrix managed to escape death and then taunt it by surviving on a deserted island for so long by herself. Shrugging, Bellatrix didn’t really know the name of the island and she’s been living on the sea for the majority of her life. It was one of those uncharted places. “Don’t know. I just called it Azkaban from a sign I found washed along the shore one day.” 

Somewhere on that island, the mounted sign can be found, and Bellatrix was the one who named it.

“How did you manage to get off the island after three years?”

Leaning back in her chair, Bellatrix makes a show of checking her fingernails like she’s about to talk about a normal day she’s spent strolling through the park. “I rode a sea turtle out.” 

At this, Draco and Tonks’ jaws drop so low that Narcissa was afraid she’d have to screw them back shut. They turn to look at each other at the same time, something unspoken being communicated between them. And then, as if on cue, they both look at Bellatrix with what can only be described as starry eyes.

\---

By the time dinner is over, Bellatrix is itching to crawl back into bed for another nap. It must have been the food and her body’s way of telling her it’s trying to recover. But she shouldn’t get used to this kind of pampering because she needs to set off to find Voldemort. He’s got three years on her. Who knows what kind of damage he’s done during that time, how many people he’s turned against her. 

“So are you going to lend me a ship or not?” 

Striding into the study, hands on her too slim hips, Bellatrix was growing impatient with playing house with her sister. She’s not going to deny that the food was great and the bed softer than what she was normally used to on the Cursed Black. But Bellatrix would have ran off and married a Duke if she wanted that kind of lifestyle.

“Stay here with me for a while, Bella. At least, until you’ve recovered your strength.”  
  
Narcissa closes the door behind them, barring their conversation from the two sets of hyper-curious ears in the house. 

“I need to find that bastard, Cissy!” She growls. “I don’t have time to be your nice house guest.”

“Bella, you’re not in any shape to sail the sea right now. You’re going to end up dead before you even make it a few hundred kilometers out the port.” 

Bellatrix glowers at this, feeling too prideful to admit that she’s just a walking shell of her former self right now. 

“Just stay for a few weeks until you’re well rested. It’s not like you can find him overnight.”

Pacing the space in front of the desk, Bellatrix mulls over her sister’s words. Cissy isn’t entirely wrong about her situation. She doesn’t know Voldemort’s current whereabouts, so her first destination would have to be Nocturnal Island to pick for information. She’d have to gather up a crew to man her ship to even get there. 

“Say that I agree to stay.” She stops and changes direction, now walking towards Narcissa who hasn’t moved an inch since they’ve been alone, “Will you give me one of your ships then?”

Bellatrix hears her suck in a heavy breath and waits for her diplomatic response. 

“We will revisit the conversation then.”

Bullshit! Bellatrix knows what that was code for. If Cissy thinks she can play her for a fool, then she’s mistaken. 

She bares her teeth through a mocking smile. “Revisit, huh.” 

Narcissa nods her head seriously, but Bellatrix can see it in her eyes that the deal is already off the table for her. In fact, it was never on the table to begin with. Feeling cross, she starts for the door.

“Bella, listen—”

“Deal.” She says abruptly, much to her sister’s surprise. And then she reaches for the doorknob and yanks it open with deliberate force, causing the two people leaning against it, most likely with their ears pressed against the door, to come crashing down onto the carpet. There’s incoherent grumbling from Draco and Tonks as they rub at the knees and elbows that broke their fall.

She bends her knees a little and tucks a finger under their chins to make them look at her. Their eyes round like saucers at being caught. Grinning, Bellatrix tries for a sickly sweet voice, “Don’t you know that it’s impolite to eavesdrop? If you were on my ship, I’d feed you to the sharks.” 

She feels their bodies shiver at her words and cackles. She can still incite this kind of fear in others! Straightening her spine, Bellatrix takes one last look at Narcissa’s wary face, before skipping out of the study to a tune that she remembers from their childhood.

\---

Hiking her boots on the coffee table, Bellatrix unwraps another piece of mint chocolate and throws it in her mouth. Narcissa has been indulging her in these little treats the past five weeks. As if she can be kept here by candy. _Does she think I’m a toddler?!_

She reaches for another piece on the tray and is met with disappointment when she comes up with just a handful of wrappers. 

“Dobby!”

The house elf pokes his head in the room first, as if to gauge whether it’s safe to enter, before pushing the door open slowly when he sees Bellatrix pouting over her empty tray of chocolate again.

“I am out of chocolate. Bring me another tray.”

Taking small hesitant steps her way, Dobby keeps his eyes trained on the floor as he rehearses his response. Bellatrix notices the house elf doing this nine out of ten times he has to tend to her. The creature needs to grow a backbone. She doesn’t have the patience to sit through a stammering episode every single time she needs something. 

“Out with it, elf! I’m not getting any younger!”

“Dobby apol-logizes, M-Ma-Madame Black, but Madame Malfoy instructed that Dobby shouldn’t bring you…more than one tray of chocolate a day.”

“Why the hell not?!” She sweeps her legs off the table and glares at the elf like he was the one making this decision and not just the messenger. 

“Dobby…” Speaking from behind a chair that he’s now used to shield himself from her wrath. “Dobby…”

She rolls her eyes. “Just tell me where she is, elf, and I promise not to suffocate you with the dozens of pillows Cissy likes to buy for each piece of furniture around here.”

The elf twiddles his thumbs together nervously, trying to decide if doing so would be a betrayal of his master’s trust. 

“Elf, I’ll find her eventually. Better tell me now before I turn this mansion upside down.” 

“Madame Malfoy… is in the study.”

Bellatrix launches out of the room without a word, her dress flaring wildly with each powered step she takes. She’s done. It’s been five weeks - five weeks of adhering to a stupid regimen to get her back on track. Five weeks of having to communicate with that stupid elf. Five weeks of watching the three of them painfully play house when Narcissa and Tonks can’t stand to be in the same room as each other and Draco does everything within his power to keep from having to be a part of the family business.

“Aunt Bella, I was wondering if—”

Her shoulder bumps into Draco’s as she storms past him down the hallway. He winces and clutches the throbbing area, confusion and pain drawing lines all over his face. Bellatrix knows that she’s regained some of her lost weight back. When she looks in the mirror, she doesn’t see her ribcage poking out anymore. And the dress is filling out better, hugging her in places that it should be. But a bony shoulder or not, the sheer impact of the collision with how fast and angry she is moving would make any person tender, especially for a boy as delicate as Draco. 

When she reaches the door to the study, she doesn’t even think of knocking before letting herself in.

“There’s only one person in the house who doesn’t knock before entering a room.” Pen in hand, Narcissa peruses a trade document on her desk without lifting her gaze to Bellatrix. “Just give me one second, Bella.” 

“Give me a ship now. I’m leaving.” Bellatrix demands. 

This gets Narcissa’s attention. Setting the pen down delicately, Narcissa finally looks up at Bella. “No.”

“Well, nice revisiting the conversation there, sister.” 

“Bella, listen.” Narcissa rubs at her temples as she pleads for Bellatrix to understand. But Bellatrix is already half way out the door with a glint in her eyes and a plan on her mind before Narcissa can use another one of her tactics to get her to stay. _It’s never easy with you, Cissy._

  



	2. Chapter 2

Bellatrix watches two of the deckhands lift a box off the ground and carry it onto the ship, chatting and laughing loudly about the best tavern to visit in Seaworthy. For the past two days, she’s been sitting in the The Lost Tavern, sipping fire whiskey and watching Malfoy Trading’s ships dock and leave the port. She has to admit to being somewhat impressed by the trading empire Cissy’s built. More than two thirds of the ships at this port belongs to the Malfoy name. Bellatrix would have personally killed the fool Lucius herself if she knew that Cissy’s takeover would lead to this. What a shame that a viral illness got to him before she did! The bleach haired bastard was working on her very last nerves.

“My, oh my. And here I thought I’ve already seen all the fine piece of ass in this town. Where’d you come from, honey?”

The drunken man slouching against the bar runs his eyes over her frame hungrily, and Bellatrix fights a nagging urge to smash his head against the counter top just to see him bleed out profusely. How dare this dirty little rodent speak to her that way?!

“C’mon, darling. What’s with the scowl? Smile a little bit. I swear I’m nice.”

He looks like a cross between that ugly creature she found on the island and bug-eyed John. Oh how she would love to make him suffer right now! But she must refrain from killing the dirty fool if she wants to go unnoticed. Society and their stupid restraints. This is why she spends her life on the sea robbing people. These rules don’t apply to her. Grinding her teeth, she stands, unhappy that the notorious Captain Black has to act like a passive woman whose only response to a man’s unwanted advances is to ignore him.

“Aw, leaving so soon?”

Brushing past him, Bellatrix deftly unhooks the money bag hanging at the man’s waistband without him noticing. She bounces it in her hand and smirks, eyes gleaming with mischief. _Hefty little thing_.

“Coming?” She calls back to the man with a wicked grin, and he nearly falls off the stool in his haste, eyes lighting up like he’s really going to get lucky with her. If they were back on the Cursed Black right now, Bellatrix would have him thrown overboard just for being that unfortunate to look at.

“Gotta pay your tab first, mate.” A burly looking man with a bushy beard and a two inch scar above his right brow says from the other side of the bar while his hands busy with wiping a mug dry. 

The ugly one reaches for his waistband, “Bugger! I left the damn thing at home.

At this, the barkeep slams the mug down on the counter top loudly, nearly shattering it into pieces. 

“You want to know what I do to men like you who come in here and steal from me?”

“I…I’m not stealing from you.” The ugly one’s bottom lip quivers, and it reminds Bellatrix a lot of Draco, with much less boyish charm and more swineliness, of course.

“You are when you come in here and have five rounds of fire whiskey and think you can prance away with a whore without paying.”

Before the ugly one could even muster up a response, Bellatrix is already lunging for the barkeep with a bottle she picked up at a nearby table. She smashes it against his hairless head and it shatters onto the counter top. Spinning around, she grabs the ugly one by the back of his neck and pushes his face mere inches from the broken glass. He yells for dear life, making Bellatrix roll her eyes.

“What?” She leans down and whispers into his ear, eyes drawn wide. He shivers at her nearness. Bellatrix tilts her head and pouts, “What’s wrong?”

The blood nearly drains from his face at her sickly sweet voice. “Pl—pl—please don’t kill me.”

She cackles and tightens her grip on his neck, nails digging into his skin. He briefly flinches from the pain but dares not to move otherwise. _He_ _’s scared_. A wave of satisfaction moves through her chest.

“Do you think it would hurt much?”

“Pl—please. Please. I have a wife and child at home.”

He’s so pathetic the way he’s begging her to spare his life right now. What a coward - a coward who can’t even put up a fight.

“I’m bored of you already,” she finally says and lets go. He falls back from the counter top gasping for air like he’s been submerged under water all this time. Something akin to relief starts to show on his face, and Bellatrix takes this as cue to grab him by the neck again and smash his head against the counter top without further taunting this time.

“Just kidding!”

Cackling, she struts towards the door, a black curl twisting around her finger. The sunlight bathes her face the second she steps out the bar, a liberating feeling she hasn’t felt in years squeezing at her chest. Knowing that she doesn’t have much time to act with the two injured men lying on the floor in the bar, Bellatrix heads straight for the one Malfoy ship she’s been watching all morning.

There are only seven deck hands on the ship right now, but she’s going to have to manage with the small crew. Getting to Nocturnal Island will only take a few days, and she can recruit for real pirates then. Climbing the ramp to the ship, she notices the good condition it is in. _Not bad, Cissy._

“Hey, you can’t be up here!” One of the deck hands spots her immediately and marches in her direction with an air of bewildering male arrogance. He passes by a contraption Bellatrix is all too familiar with as he gets to her. _A canon on board. Cissy, you do think of everything._

“Hey! Are you listening to me?! You can’t be up here!” The sailor is now shouting in her face in his fit of rage. Bellatrix grabs him by the neck, surprising the tall man with her strength, and drags him across the deck. In one swift movement, she throws him overboard, ending his tirade with a huge splash. _I can manage with six._

“What in Merlin’s beard?”

“Who the hell are you?”

Bellatrix rolls her eyes. _What is with people and their endless questions!?_

“Start sailing or I’ll kill you all.”

For a few seconds, the remaining crew stands stock still. And all she’s able to hear is the activity of other ships in the background. W _hat_ _’s that?_ She strains her ears to make out the distinct sound. Ah. _Just a small movement aside the ship - likely from that one sailor trying to get back to land._

“You have three seconds to make up your mind because I’m not known for having much patience.”

Her second warning sends them scurrying about to prepare to sail without further questioning. Bellatrix stares out into the vast sea ahead of them, a giddy feeling overcoming her. _Nocturnal Island, here I come._

\---

A day into their journey, Bellatrix was able to instill enough fear into the crew that she was able to retreat into the captain’s cabin for some rest. She didn’t have to watch over them every second of the day anymore because none of them would dare to cross her if they value their lives. _That_ _’s what I thought of my old crew. And look at where that’s gotten me!_ Angry, she reaches for the closest thing to her and heaves it across the room. The book doesn’t break when it lands on the ground, much to her dismay.

“Captain!”

A hurried knock arrives at her door, and Bellatrix huffs in annoyance. Whoever it is better have a good reason for disturbing her this late at night.

“What?!”

A worried silence ticks away on the other side of the door.

“This better be good, or I’ll throw you overboard!” She pulls the knob and the door swings open forcefully. In the doorway, she sees deckhand number one staring back at her with unsure eyes and Draco and Tonks smiling sheepishly at his side.

“Hi, Aunt Bella.” Draco rubs at the back of his neck. “Surprise?”

“I found them hiding out in one of the cabins. They said that they knew you.”

Obviously, this deckhand has never met any of Cissy’s family. How could he when the two rascals are busy sneaking onto ships in their spare time.

“Leave them.”

It doesn’t take another word from Bellatrix for the man to disappear out of sight, leaving Draco and Tonks behind to deal with the repercussion of their actions.

“Aunt Bella, we can expl-”

She grabs them by the wrists and pulls them into her cabin. The door shuts behind them loudly.

“Why the fuck are you two here?” She sneers.

Hand on his heart, Draco steps forward with an answer. _For fuck_ _’s sake._ “We want to be pirates.”

She blinks, unsure if she heard him correctly. When Draco doesn’t show any sign of backing down, Bellatrix redirects her gaze at Tonks, who answers with a shrug of the shoulders. What the hell does she look like? A babysitter?

“Did Cissy drop the both of you on the head as babies?” Hands on her hips, Bellatrix wonders out loud what could possibly be flowing through those stupid heads. Being a pirate isn’t for snotty little babies who have never even held a sword in their lives.

“I heard Draco was dropped a few times.”

“Hey!”

When the hell did they become comfortable enough around her to make jokes? This is unacceptable!

“I’m going to throw both of your arses off this ship,” she hisses. Draco’s eyes widen slightly at the threat before he pushes Tonks forward to give her pitch.

“Look, Aunt Bella, Draco and I do not belong at Malfoy Trading. Draco can’t sit still for a second at a desk, and well…you know about my situation with Aunt Cissy.”

“Boo hoo! Cry me a river for the boy who doesn’t want to work at his mummy’s trading empire and the girl who can’t play nice with the her aunt. Now go on.” Bellatrix starts to shoo them away with her hands. “I can’t be bothered with your little problems. I have to get my ship back.”

“Where do you expect us to go? We’re in the middle of the ocean.”

“Anywhere! I don’t care! Just get off this ship. I don’t need Cissy coming after me because you two idiots decided to go on a suicide mission.”

“We can help you get your ship back!”

“Help?” Bellatrix’s voice rises a few registers and her eyes light up with exaggerated glee, bordering on manic. “What kind of help could you two useless brats offer me? Bellatrix Black does not need your help. Now leave!”  
  


She throws them out of her cabin by their collars. Spoiled little brats. “I don’t care if you have to swim with the sharks, but the next time I see you, you better not be on this damn ship!”

“But—”

The door slams shut in their faces. She huffs and looks back at the book thrown on the floor.

Bellatrix wakes the next morning lying in a pile of…paper. She grabs one with frayed edges and tries to decipher the words on them through half opened lids.

“Stupid Shakespeare.” Those two dumb kids dying with each other is the most pathetic thing she’s ever heard of. _What the hell is a sailor doing reading this crap anyway?_ It’s a good thing she destroyed the book last night. One less copy of this pathetic piece of crap to go around.

“Captain!”

A rap comes at the door, and Bellatrix swears under her breath. _This better be good._

Deckhand number three greets her with a salute, and she gives him a look like he’s stupid.

“What the hell do I look like to you? A Gryffindor?”

“Sorry, Captain. I just wanted to let you know that breakfast is ready.”

Breakfast? How did one of them sneak off to prepare an elaborate breakfast when they’re short handed right now?

“You don’t have to come knocking at my cabin door to tell me that the bread is ready,” she mocks.

“Actually…Draco made breakfast.”

Drac—

She pushes him out of the way, nearly knocking the man off his feet.

_Dumb kids were supposed to have left yesterday._

With anger pulsing at her temples, she storms straight to the main deck where she hears chatter and laughter. The heavy thumping sound of her boots must have given her away when she rounds the corner to find all eyes trained in her direction.

“Who wants a second serving?” Draco emerges from a different cabin on the far end with a bowl in his hand and a grin on his face.

“What the hell are you still doing here?! And why the hell are you giving my crew soup!?”

At this, Tonks emerges from the same door, face flushed with flour.

“Draco! I told you to—oh, good morning, Aunt Bella.”

“Good morning, my ass!”

All of the deckhands stop eating immediately, a shared fear growing among them judging by the sober looks on their faces.

“I told the two of you that I wanted you off my ship.”

“We’re surrounded by water, Aunt Bella.”

“Too bad! You two better get lost by noon or I’ll throw you off the ship myself.”

She turns around to leave, not retreating back to her cabin, but to the stern of the ship. These two brats were giving her a headache, and she needs some fresh air to think and get away from all of the stupidity. When she finally reaches the other end, she inhales deeply. _Yes, there is less stupid here._ She lifts herself up on the edge and throws her legs over to dangle her feet above the water on the moving ship. A seagull nearby catches her attention, and she watches it raptly until it finally catches its prey.

When she was still trapped on Azkaban, there were days when she’d witness the sun rise above and dip below the horizon without missing a beat. Oh how she loathed those days! Suddenly annoyed by the memory, Bellatrix slips back down and returns to her cabin. The smell of herbs greet her when she opens the door to her cabin. A bowl of soup and half a loaf of bread sit on the writing table next to her bed.

_Stupid kids._

\---

The next time Bellatrix emerges from her cabin, the sun is hanging higher in the sky than before, traveling the distance of five hours. She moves to the main deck to speak with the deckhands about their travel and finds one of them teaching Draco how to set the sails while another show Tonks how to use a telescope.

“Didn’t I tell you two to get the hell off my ship!?”

Both of the deckhands remove their hands and place them behind their backs as though they were just caught red handed.

“Aunt Bella, we’re surrounded by water.”

“I don’t fucking care! You two better be gone by dinner time!”

She turns to leave again.

“Lunch will be brought to your cabin soon!”

\---

By the end of the third day, Bellatrix has threatened Draco and Tonks with throwing them overboard at least seven times. But the two idiots can’t seem to understand the gravity of her threats as they continue to stick around like a nasty illness that just won’t quit. And those stupid deckhands that continue to fawn over them and their cooking. She should poison the soup to teach them a lesson!

“Captain, we are nearing Nocturnal Island,” a deckhand calls from behind her as she looks out into the sea from on top the ledge.

_Nocturnal Island!_

Bellatrix feels like a child about to enter a candy shop at the news. She swings her legs back on deck and launches past the man. He follows without a word, clearly waiting for her to give out instructions on how they should proceed. Any seaman worth his weight knows that Nocturnal Island is a pirate haven no regular sailor dares approaches. These deckhands have probably traveled far and wide in their trade routes, but Bellatrix doubts they’ve waded into the waters around Nocturnal Island.

“Take down the Malfoy flag,” she commands. “And fly a new one with this crest.”

She shows him a marking of a black crow on the inside of her wrist. If they want a chance to dock without being attacked, they need to signal their presence at least fifty kilometers away. And the way to do that would be to announce her arrival with the Black’s crest. Yes, Bellatrix has no intentions of hiding her existence. She wants the world to know that Captain Black is still alive!

“Aunt Bella!” Draco and Tonks are running towards her with looks of utter glee on their faces. “We heard that Nocturnal Island is up ahead.”

“What the hell are you two looking so excited for? You were supposed to have gotten off this damn ship three days ago.” She ignores their sorrowful looks as she walks past them to get a clearer view of the deckhands prepping for their arrival.

“You’re not going to lose us. Draco and I are determined to be pirates.”

“What makes you think you have what it takes to be a pirate?”

“We have Black blood running through our veins too.”

Bellatrix cackles. “Tell that to Cissy! Now go back to your cushy little lives in Kilsburg and stop bothering me with your teenage rebellion cause.”

“It’s not a rebellion!”

_“Captain! The flag is up! We’re all set to dock when it comes!”_

_\---_

Somehow, the air around them starts to turn a little bit colder the closer they get to Nocturnal Island despite the warmth from the burning torches lighting the night. Bellatrix’s heart thrums in her chest as the ship slows to dock, eliciting some curious looks from neighboring ships that noticed the crest on their flag. She smirks, feeling something akin to vindication rise from within.

If this were any other night, she’d march straight into the Leaky Cauldron and bleed the tavern dry of firewhiskey. But tonight, she has more important matters to tend to. She needs to find the one man who can give her information about Voldemort’s whereabouts.

“Stay on this ship and don’t go anywhere.”

Bellatrix doesn’t wait for Draco and Tonks to respond before she’s stepping off the ship. There are probably pouts on those stupid little faces, but she can’t be caught walking around Nocturnal Island with a group of straight-laced sailors on the night of her return! Besides, the two of them would be useful in keeping the deckhands from sailing away with her only means of transport.

“Be careful!”

“Don’t get into any bar fights!”

_Stupid kids. I am going to throw them overboard when I return._

She pushes past several dirty pirates who are arguing about some rumored treasure hidden in Aldor’s Cove. Their chatter ceases immediately at the sight of her unmistakable curly black mane.

“Well, hex me side ways. Is that Bellatrix Black?”

“I’ll do better and throw your arse into the water to get eaten by the mermans.”

She spins around and bares her teeth at the pirate. He makes a show of squinting at her before he breaks into an ugly laugh.

“Shit, it is you! I thought you were dead. Didn’t Voldemort kill you three years ago?”

The other pirates join in on the laughter, and Bellatrix uses the opportunity to grab them by their hair.

“Son of a bitch! Let me go!”

“I’ll tell you something, filth.” She tugs on their hair harder, sparking enough pain to cause enormous amounts of saliva to run down their mouths. “I would have killed you and brought you back from the dead and killed you again a hundred times before that ever happens.”

Dragging them close to the edge, she twists the bundle of hair in her hand to hear them scream again before throwing them into the water. “Happy swimming!”

The loud splash they make draws the attention of nearby pirates who look between Bellatrix and the flailing limbs in the water. On any given night on Nocturnal Island, there will be at least two fights where someone ends up swimming with the fishes. But it is no ordinary night that the long thought dead Captain Black gets to teach some hapless pirates a lesson.

_Is that Bellatrix?_

_What is Black doing here? Isn_ _’t she supposed to be dead?_

A spine chilling cackle erupts from Bellatrix’s lips as she soaks in the attention. Some of the pirates take a few steps back, either wary of the temperamental Captain Black who’s just re-emerged in society or her menacing spirit looking to haunt Nocturnal Island up and down. “Bellatrix Black is alive!” She declares loudly and swishes her dress with dramatic flair when she turns around to leave.

Since the two idiots back on the ship can’t be trusted to keep in one spot for long, Bellatrix has to abandon her many ideas of fun for the night. There will be other opportunities to throw people into the water after this.

Continuing on her path, she finds herself intrigued by the old and new things about Nocturnal Island. Like why there’s suddenly an ugly statue where her favorite bench used to be and why the old geezer McAllister still has that frilly clothes shop open. No pirate worth his salt would be caught wearing that stuff. She also runs into other pirates who somehow immediately sober up when they lock eyes with her. 

Three blocks away from the dock and she finally sees the warm light of the Leaky Cauldron inviting her in. _Old friend, it_ _’s been far too long!_

The door still creaks loudly when she pushes it open. And the sound of drunken pirates and uninspiring bets greet her like yesterday. Then, a stony silence falls upon the room. The drinking stops as all eyes turn to look at her in the doorway.

“Well, well, well.” A nasally voice calls from the far corner, the first one to outwardly acknowledge her presence. Bellatrix doesn’t bother to answer but makes her way in his direction. The other pirates take this as cue to continue drinking.

“It’s nice to see you again, Bellatrix.”

“Do you ever wash that hair of yours, Severus? I swear it gets greasier every time I see it.”

Snape leans back in his chair, clearly annoyed by Bellatrix’s comment but trying his best not to take the bait.

“What do you want from me?”

“How do you know that I’m here for you?”

“Don’t play coy, Bellatrix. I don’t like the games.” 

“My, you’re as impatient as ever.” She slides into the chair across from him and steals the glass from his hand. A whiff of the brown contents inside makes her face scrunch in disgust. “Seems you also still have the worst taste in the world.”

“Bellatrix, did you come here just to insult me?” He snatches his drink back but seem to think twice about taking another sip of the foul thing when he brings it close to his nose. “I would say to spare me the honor.”

“Tell me where he is.”

“Who do you mean?” With a self satisfied smirk, he rests the glass back on the table. 

“Don’t play coy, Snape. It’s not cute on you.”

He laughs at her remark, perhaps only the second time Bellatrix has ever witnessed his face turn into anything other than a scowl.

“You must first tell me what rock you’ve been hiding under all these years. It’s quite unlike you to shy away from attention, Bellatrix. About half of Nocturnal Island already knows you’re here with that stunt you pulled by the dock.”

“What’s with all the questions, Snape? When did you become a nosy housewife?”

“I get my information a number of ways. That’s why you came here to find me.”

“Fine.” She recounts her story back to him, sparing the details about Cissy’s ship and the group of idiots waiting for her back at the dock.

“How did you manage to get off the island?” He asks with genuine intrigue.

“I jumped on the back of an eagle and it flew me out.”

Snape’s face twitches with complete and utter disbelief at her absurd explanation. He doesn’t push on.

“Now tell me where Voldemort is.”

“Last I heard, he and your—his crew was last seen on Knight Bay.”

Knight Bay. Bellatrix wonders what business Voldemort has there. The place hasn’t sparked any kind of rumor about a treasure in two decades.

“Tell me what—”

Behind her, the door to the tavern swings open again, drawing Snape’s attention away from their present conversation as he looks in that direction. He grunts at whatever’s that just walked in.

“I suspect that those two are with you.”

Bellatrix clinches her teeth and draws her body around, fully knowing who to expect at—. _What the fuck do those two idiots think they_ _’re doing?!_ She feels her head about to explode at the sight of Draco and Tonks at the doorway dressed in…those dumb outfits she saw on the mannequins from McAllister’s shop. And, for some unknown reason to Bellatrix, Draco is wearing an eye patch and Tonks has a hook where her left hand is supposed to be. Puffing his chest out, Draco makes a big show of walking over to the bar by taking abnormally loud steps. Close behind him is Tonks who is brandishing the hook in the air like McAllister didn’t just cheat them out of their money to keep his little shop open for another month. Every pirate in the room now has their eyes on the idiots, unsure if they should be cautious of two potential spies or overwhelmed by the sheer stupidity of two people.

_May we take a look at the menu?_

Draco’s boyish voice, distinct as ever, makes the bar keep laugh. Tonks elbows him in the ribs for what Bellatrix presumes as falling out of character. Should have been a hook to the ribs to put Bellatrix and everyone else in the room out of their misery if she were to have it her way.

_Oh! I mean—give me the strongest liquor in your cabinet or my friend here will whack you in the face with her hook._

“There’s whacking involved, now.” She hears Snape’s annoying chuckle behind her. ”Bellatrix, where exactly did you find those two—pir…well, those two.”

“I don’t know those two idiots.” She refuses to acknowledge that she has any relation to those two. Refuses. How did Cissy manage to survive all these years!?

“Really, because it looks like they’re waving to you right now.”

She glares back in the direction of the bar. And sure enough, Draco and Tonks are hunched down at the counter, waving at her with such maddening excitement like no one can see them. Draco points to the drink in his hand, perhaps the first time he’s ever had a drop of liquor in his life, and Tonks mouths something excitedly before raising that damn hook again.

“Just tell me what he’s been up to. I don’t need your snarky little comments.” The longer they stay on Nocturnal Island, the more damage those two will do to her reputation.

“I can’t tell you much as you know I don’t like giving out information that I’m not certain about. I am a man of facts, Bellatrix. I do not gossip like the lonely housewives you seem to take me for. But, here, take this.”

He retrieves a compass from his bag and hands it to her. She huffs, feeling insulted that Snape would think she’d need a compass to tell her which way North is.

“Don’t overreact before you hear my words, Bellatrix. This is not an ordinary compass. This is one of two magical compasses from Blackbeard’s loot. It will lead you to your heart’s greatest desire. I don’t want to send you off on a wild goose chase for Voldemort. I can’t have my reputation being tarnished that way.”

“And you’re just handing over this mystical compass to me with no strings attached? I wasn’t born yesterday, Severus. What do you want in return?”

“I want you to take the bastard down. Ever since he started ruling the seas, countless pirates have fallen at his hands. And my network of information has dwindled to something so pathetic that I am embarrassed to even speak about it.”

Bellatrix sees his knuckles white from clinching the glass in his hand and decides to believe his words for now.

“They don’t call me the Notorious Captain Black for no reason. What makes you think I won’t kill?”

Snape shifts in his seat, a serious expression etching on his face. “There’s a difference between a thrill seeker and a blood hungry ruler. I’d rather see you unleashed into the world and hope that you get bored of all that debauchery one day rather than have this bastard try to change every pirate’s life.”

“Don’t go complimenting me, Severus. It does not suit you.” She tucks the compass away and stands from her seat.

“It was not a compliment. I was merely saying that you’re the lesser evil of the two.”

Bellatrix doesn’t respond to this and walks away from the table, partly because she doesn’t know if Snape’s statement is true or not and partly because that’s how all of their conversations have always ended. Neither of them are well versed in the niceties nor prefer them. She walks past the bar, and two idiots slide from their seats to follow her.

“Goodbye!” They wave at the bar keep whose cheeks start to pink from embarrassment.

Once outside the Leaky Cauldron, Bellatrix grabs the lapels of their shirts and push them both up against the tavern’s wall.

“What the fuck do you two think you’re doing? When I say stay on the ship, I did not mean come after me like two ill dressed mannequins!”

“We saw what happened at the dock and thought the pirates were going to come after you.”

“So what?! You thought you two would come here to protect me?!”

“Yes.”

Bellatrix wants to punch them both in the face for being so dumb. 

“I don’t need your protection! Now get back on that ship—-if it’s even still there!”

“It is!” Tonks tells her that the deckhands are aware of their relation to Narcissa and have agreed to wait for their return. _At least we still have the ship._

They walk in silence the entire way back to the dock with Bellatrix lost in her thoughts about how to best pursue Voldemort. She has a compass, but she doesn’t have a crew yet. They would need to stay at Nocturnal Island for a night to gather up provisions for their trip the next morning. So that means she has less than twelve hours to gather a crew.

“If any of you pirates want to join me on my pursuit of Voldemort, then show your arse here at eight hundred o’clock tomorrow!”

There’s a wary feeling amongst the crowd that Bellatrix cannot decipher. What has that bastard done during those three years that’s gotten everyone so terrified? Tomorrow, she will find out how many will be up to the task. But, for now, she has to get these two idiots back on the ship.

—

The next morning, exactly five pirates show up. Bellatrix tries her best not to lash out at them but goddammit she’s Captain Black! If she had announced this kind of recruitment three years ago, she’d seen at least two dozen pirates lining up to be a part of her crew. With her present situation, she’d have to consider letting the deckhands stay.

“Listen up! You either have the choice to stay on this island and hope that these pirates don’t feed you to the mermans or you can come back on the ship as part of my crew. Once you stay, you pledge your loyalty, and I don’t want to hear anything about remorse! You will be pirates! You will no longer be nice little sailors with morals!” Out of the six deckhands, Bellatrix can see that at least two want to take their chance on Nocturnal Island. She bares her teeth, “So choose carefully because either decision carries a risk of being thrown into the water.”

The two she eyed step forward, hands clinching the fabric on the side of their trousers nervously. “We….We…”

“Just go before I throw you two into the water right now!”

They scurry away at her words, and Bellatrix thinks how stupid they must be. They won’t last a night here without any kind of merit to protect them!

“Now get your arses back on the ship and get ready for departure.”

She looks at the compass in her hand that’s currently pointing North. Knight’s Bay, here we come.

\---

The sun dips close to the horizon, coloring the sea a bright orange color. Bellatrix’s eyes watch, unblinking, at the vision in front of her. She lifts a finger to trace the innermost edge of the ring - hoping to feel the scorching heat on her skin. It’s been far too long since she’s been able to have some fun - six days to be exact. At this rate, she would die of boredom before they reach Knight’s Bay. Her fingers twitch at the idea of lighting one of the men on fire, but she knows that she needs to be resourceful. If she starts to kill them off one by one to feed her boredom, there would be no hands left to man the ship. So once in a while, she would throw one of them into the water and tell him to race with her for cackles. They all come back on deck with looks of terror on their faces like they’ve been chased by a merman in the water. _Dumb shits_.

“Captain Black, we’ve just rescued Stevie from the water—”

Bellatrix grins and picks up her hat to drop it back on her head. She turns around to look at her nephew, who must be grateful that he’s never been a participant in her game, judging by the fear in his eyes. Cissy’s boy has a lot to learn if he wants to grow out of his lanky form and starry eyes.

“Where is he?”

“On the deck, Captain.”

This was Stevie’s first participation in her game, and the man nearly soiled his pants before she even threw him into the water. _What a joke!_ She saunters past Draco and motions for him to follow her with a wag of a long, slim finger.

“Come now, my dear nephew. Let Aunt Bella show you what a pitiful excuse for a pirate looks like!” She says cheerfully. Draco follows behind, knowing exactly what’s about to happen next.

“Who brought this wet rat onto my deck!?” Bellatrix declares loudly. The men who’ve gathered on the deck around Stevie look amongst themselves nervously, knowing that the captain likes to make a scene. Fear of getting in the way of his aunt’s wrath, Draco steps to the side and loses his balance as his foot catches on a rope. A firm hand steadies him.

“Don’t be so uncoordinated, child.” Bellatrix mocks. She ignores Stevie’s shivering form momentarily as she struts from one pirate to the next, sneering at each man and insulting his personal hygiene.

“My, my, we’ve got a ginger on board. Did you get that from your mummy or daddy?”

Ralph, the tall boy with orange hair looks surprised to be singled out. Bellatrix recognizes the fear on his face immediately and smirks. “Answer me, boy!”

“My mummy!” He splutters.

A sharp, maniacal cackle breaks from Bellatrix’s lips. She throws her head back dramatically, heavy black curls slipping past her mid back.

Tonks watches the scene unfold from the crow’s nest and shakes her head in disbelief.

“Now, where was I?” Bellatrix turns away from Ralph, clearly now bored with the boy trembling in his boots. “Oh, right! Sneezy!”

Stevie wraps his arms around his body as if to shield himself from an impending attack. “It’s…uh…Captain…it’s Ste—vie.”

“Did I ask you for your name?!” She growls, and Stevie falters three steps backwards. The man, towering over Bellatrix by nearly a head, blinks the water from his eyes but remains silent otherwise. “What? Merman’s got your tongue?” Bellatrix goads him on, a glint of mischief in her eyes.

“Captain…I” The man looks behind him for an escape but sees nothing but endless water. She can read the desperation on his face. The dilemma of facing Bellatrix or jumping back into the water.

_Sail ho! Sail ho!_

Tonks’ voice from above interrupts their standoff, signaling an incoming ship. All eyes look up at her, the prospect of some action in nearly a week clearly overriding their interest in Bellatrix’s antics. Bellatrix, for her part, seems equally excited about the opportunity as she rushes from one side of the ship to the next in search of another ship in the water.

“Where!” She shouts at Tonks, growing impatient after about two seconds.

“Hold on to your knickers!” Tonks yells back. She scans the idle ship just a few kilometers north of them through the telescope.

“There!” She points, and they all follow the path to a ship northwest of them. Red and gold colors adorn the sails and then what appears to be an outline of a lion on the ensign. _Gryffindor._

——

Hermione has locked herself in her cabin after breakfast to finish her book despite Ron’s insistence that she’d join him on deck. Frankly, she has no interest in hearing him speak about cannons any further. Her knowledge of warfare and weaponry far exceeds his limited understanding, so she figured it was best to make herself scarce for some alone time to avoid the nauseating show boating that he likes to do in front of his men. However, any semblance of peace and quiet will have to evade her today as the noise outside continues to grow louder.

Hermione sets her book down, giving up all hope that she won’t have to see her betrothed again for the rest of the day. The orange haired general her father seems so keen on her marrying showers her with such earnest attention that it makes her feel guilty about avoiding him sometimes. But it’s almost as if they speak two different languages when they are in each other’s company. She tells herself that perhaps it will get better once they marry.

“Hermione!” She hears Ron’s muffled voice on the other side of the door, followed by an urgent knock. Before she can answer his call, the door flies open and Ron rushes in, cheeks aflame like he’s been running a few kilometers to get to her. He falls back on the door, chest heaving, and fumbles the key at the lock.

Hermione stands from her seat, the adrenaline proving to be infectious. “What’s wrong, Ron?”

He clenches his jaw so tightly from where she’s standing that Hermione is afraid that he might fracture his teeth from it. Whatever that’s happening outside must be distressing enough to make him forgo any etiquette when entering her cabin.

“Ron, tell me —” Then she hears it, the unmistakable sound of metal clashing together furiously. By the sounds of it, at least a dozen swords at play. “Is there a fight going on outside?”

“We are—” He answers shakily, “currently under attack, Hermione.”

He grabs her shoulders with trembling hands, the first direct contact they’ve ever had with each other, and stares into her eyes. His voice comes out as barely a whisper, “I will do everything within my power to protect you.”

“Who’s attacking us? How many men do they have on their side? What kind of weapons do they have?” Hermione is already pushing past him to get to the window, pulling aside the curtain by a hair to steal a peek of the activity outside.

“Uh…by pirates,” Ron answers, slightly confused by Hermione’s response, “They have…swords…and guns.”

Hermione is only able to catch a glimpse of the tail end of a leather black dress before a scream breaks out just outside her window and a spray of blood scatters across the glass. She staggers back at the gruesome sight.

“Why didn’t we use the cannons while they were approaching?” Hermione turns around to question the pathetic looking man hiding in her cabin while his men are out there being slaughtered.

“Our men—didn’t see them.” A flush rises at the tips of his ears, and Hermione uses every ounce of patience she has left not to scream at him.

“After everything you said—”

A knock comes at the door. They both look in that direction but neither one budges. Then another one comes a second later. It’s so utterly casual and slow, considering the frenzy outside, that it’s…scary.

_It_ _’s impolite to keep your guest waiting!_

The menacing voice of a woman outside the door makes the both of them jump. _Who in the world is that?_ Then, instead of a knock, the door reverberates with a harsh sound like wood is cracking under the sheer force of whatever power lies on the other side.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, all the thanks to my girlfriend who betas my work and gives me tea.

The door is not going to save them from the pirates on the other side despite how sturdy it may appear. So what does Hermione do in a situation like this? Invite the beast in or wait until it invites itself in? She chances a look at Ron from the corner of her eye and sees his nervousness travel down the length of his throat almost painfully. It’s likely that whatever decision they come to will have to fall on Hermione’s shoulders at this point. She turns her gaze to the key in the lock.

There’s something to be said about not cowering in the face of fear. If they were to act first, instead of reacting after the pirates break in, then perhaps they’d have some room for negotiation. Her heart rate dials up a few notches at the revelation. Ironically, this reminds her a lot of that fairy tale about the wolf knocking on someone’s door asking to be let in. Hopefully, she doesn’t suffer from the same fate as some of those characters. Taking in a deep breath, she walks to the door and reaches for the key. The latch turns loudly, a sound that up until today never seemed so frightening to Hermione. The banging halts. 

Behind her, Ron chokes out his reaction to what he probably perceives as a rash decision. “Oh bloody hell.”

The thudding in her chest quickens as sunlight spills into the room. Almost instantly, the strong smell of the sea and something like chocolate mints rushes past her. 

“Boo.” 

She flinches, and the woman standing in front of her looks very pleased with herself. Is this the monster that’s been threatening to break her cabin door down? Hermione isn’t sure what she expected to be greeted with. Well, pirates, yes. But not a… woman? Not that women can’t be pirates. There was that infamous Captain Black she’d been warned about who all but disappeared three years ago. Though, she wondered about the validity of that story. If the woman even existed or was just part of the many tales sailors made up to pass their long days on the sea.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” The woman finds Ron past Hermione’s shoulders and smirks. “A bastard Gryffindor and his little whore hiding out in the cabin. You missed all of the action!”

She brandishes a sword in Hermione’s face, causing her to draw back a few steps. 

“What? Don’t tell me you’re shy,” the woman mocks. Hermione feels the tip of the blade against the underside of her chin, tilting it up to the light. She swallows hard but keeps still otherwise. Something tells her that the woman with the sword to her throat would not think twice about slitting it open if Hermione even breathed the wrong way. With nowhere else to go, her eyes begin to roam the form of the woman holding her hostage.

The black leather dress is an… odd choice of fashion. But then again, nothing about this woman seems orthodox. From her distinctly dark mane and improper clothes to the severe scowl on her face. If she hadn’t spoken with an English accent, Hermione would have trouble believing her to be a citizen of Great Britain or any of the neighboring European nations. Is this the woman responsible for the ambush? 

“Don’t like my dress?” The woman pouts almost theatrically when she notices Hermione staring really hard at her clothes. It makes her go pink.

“Speak your thoughts, girl. I don’t like to be kept waiting,” she growls. The acute way with which she studies Hermione’s face is rather unnerving, like she’s searching for something.

“Filth,” she says after Hermione remains silent, baring a hint of teeth. The tip of the blade starts to stroke Hermione’s skin painfully but not enough to draw blood. “You are a filthy one. I doubt that lover of yours would even care if I killed you.”

“Don’t you dare touch her!” 

The blade digs deeper into her skin, eliciting a hiss from her lips. The woman clicks her tongue at Ron’s foolishness. 

“You don’t want to kill me,” Hermione manages to say through the pain. She’s been mulling her first words to the woman, and nothing seemed more apt. Perhaps a bargain would buy them some time. 

“My, for a filthy little whore, you sure do have a high opinion of yourself. Let me tell you something, pet-” she tugs hard at Hermione’s hair, nearly ripping out the follicles, to draw her close. The warm puffs of air tickling the shell of her ear makes Hermione blink repeatedly. “No one tries to gain the upper hand with Bellatrix Black.” 

It’s as if an iron weight sinks to the pit of her stomach at the sound of the name. Isn’t she supposed to be… fictional? 

“I’m not trying to gain the upper hand,” she hastily offers. “I just think you can gain much more if you kept us alive.”

“What in the world would I gain from keeping you two alive?”

“My father. He’s the Earl of Newcastle. He can provide you with more gold and riches than what this ship can do for you. Pelican Place, that’s just a few kilometers away. We... we have a base there.” Because isn’t that what all pirates want? This ship can fetch them a large sum, but Hermione’s father would pay Bellatrix at least five times the value of this ship for her safe return.

“Stupid girl! What makes you think I’d want to bargain with you?” The woman’s eyes widen like she’s just lost all handle on the small amount of patience she had. “What I need is a larger ship for my crew.” She looks around Hermione’s cabin and beams. “And I have that right here. So! I don’t need to keep the two of you alive for shit! That’s four more idiots than I can put up with!” 

Four? Is some of the crew still alive?

“Now let’s go!” She pulls Hermione out from her cabin while two other pirates strong arm Ron close behind her. “You, pet, get to swim with the mermen today.” 

It’s a bloodbath outside her cabin, and Hermione has to hold her breath stepping over a few bodies to avoid being dragged by Bellatrix. The woman pays no mind to the fingers or limbs being crushed under her feet when she pulls Hermione to the main deck. The pirates standing in a group waiting for her to reappear give way to their captain when they notice she has a captive she’d like to see walk the plank. Fuck. This was not the plan. 

“You’re going to get a real taste of the sea in a little bit, pet.”

The waters are more turbulent today, Hermione notices, and then absently wonders if there’s enough of it to wash away the blood on these floorboards. Why would Bellatrix even want a ship in this state? 

Suddenly, she feels herself being lifted up to the plank by her waist, and a stiff hand pushes hard at her back. She totters to the edge, feeling the fear rise to her chest the lower the plank dips. 

“Need another hand?” The terrible woman has the gall to smile at her. 

“Go to hell,” She finally spits back at Bellatrix and boldly inches closer to the ledge. Hermione hadn’t realized she’d been crying until a cool breeze passes by and she can feel tears drying on her cheeks. “You’re an awful person… what you did to everyone today.” She bites down hard on her lip to stifle the sob trying to escape.

The muscle in Bellatrix’s jaw clenches visibly under the sun. Hermione can tell that she’s… surprised by Hermione’s words. The woman looks between her and the sea and pouts like she’s displeased with something. 

“Now you can understand my pain!”

What?

Hermione doesn’t get a chance to ask Bellatrix what she meant before a cannon somewhere goes off and strikes their ship. Everything shakes on impact, sending Hermione straight for the water. The crash is immediate - hard and unbearably cold for a summer’s day. She swears she hears a female voice yell something like “Nooooooo!” from above water, but that could very well be her imagination. Seconds away from drowning will do that to a person. She knows this as the water clinging onto every single thread of her dress keeps her from going up for air. She kicks helplessly with her legs for the better part of twenty seconds, trying to propel herself upward to no end. Merlin, when will it end? In another thirty seconds? Fifty? When will she become numb to the crushing pain in her lungs? She finally decides to stop struggling, and for a moment, an odd sense of peace washes over her. It’s like she can feel herself become one with the water. This is not too bad--

Something wraps around her waist. No! No! No! In a moment of sheer terror, she pushes and kicks at what can only be a merman at her back. They were the quickest creatures in the sea, and if someone was unfortunate enough to be in the water within a mile of one of them, they should count their lucky stars to escape with all limbs intact. Merlin, she didn’t want to be eaten alive. That’s a fate worse than… worse than… she was going to say facing Bellatrix Black but that’s not true. Using the last strength she has left, Hermione closes her eyes and throws punches in the water. None of them seem to land. Then, she feels a hand cup her chin, forcing her to open her eyes. She meets the dark eyes of Bellatrix Black, wild and pissed off, but what’s new. The water breathes life into her hair as it moves wildly about, reminding Hermione of Medusa. What the hell does Bellatrix want? Merlin, does she want to drown Hermione herself with her bare hands?

She tries to push off the woman’s shoulder but Bellatrix doesn’t budge. Instead, in a twisted turn of events, a hand grabs at Hermione’s collar and begins to pull her up to the surface. She’s… saving me?

When Hermione finally comes to, she’s lying face flat on the main deck of the smaller ship. She hears Bellatrix a few feet away arguing with two distinctly younger voices. 

“Why the fuck would you two launch a cannon at the ship while I was on it?!”

“We were trying to help you! We were trying to be pirates!”

“Help!? Help!? You just sunk the fucking ship that I wanted to steal! How is that helping me?”

The two people coming under Bellatrix’s fire look to be about her age. She doesn’t know if they’re supposed to be pirates or captives that Bellatrix decided to keep. But it sounds like they’re the sole reason why everyone’s now on this smaller ship. Inconspicuously, she searches the crowd for Ron while the sinking ship next to them holds everyone’s attention. She almost thinks she finds him when her eyes lock on the back of a head of red hair, but the person’s a few inches too tall. 

“It’s going to be fine, Aunt Bella. This ship has served us well.” The girl with streaks of bold color in her dark hair tries to take on a casual tone about their situation despite the sinking ship an arm’s reach away. Wait, did she just call Bellatrix ‘Aunt Bella?’ Hermione tries to listen on, but a terrible feeling rising up her chest makes it impossible to go unnoticed any further. She coughs.

Immediately, she can feel Bellatrix’s heated glare on her. A strong hand grips at her wet hair that’s now fallen from its clippings. In a second, Hermione’s standing up on her feet again. 

“Had a nice nap?”

Merlin, a near drowning experience sure does mess with one’s senses. Everything's spinning, and she continues to smell chocolate mints and sea water. Her head aches despite not having any kind of recollection of hitting it on anything. She must look a fright right now with how bad she feels. 

Two sets of young eyes lock on her with concern, and Hermione at least has the wherewithal to know when a line’s being thrown her way. She mouths please to them, asking for mercy while Bellatrix has her locked in a death grip by the hair. The boy furrows his brows. “Who is she?”

Bellatrix tightens her grip on Hermione, and it hurts so bad that she instinctively claws at the hand inflicting unimaginable pain on her. 

“Why you!” A hard slap lands on Hermione’s right cheek and she goes tumbling to the ground. Maybe that’s how she hit her head. She’s sure Bellatrix hadn’t gently laid her on the floor after she had rescued her. 

The girl with purple hair rushes over to Hermione and sets a hand on her shoulder. “There, there. What’s your name?”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“She’s hurt. I was just trying to see if she’s okay.” 

Bellatrix rolls her eyes. “The stupid girl will survive a fall.” 

“Why, why did you save me? Was it just so you could torture me?” 

“Seeing as how these idiots just sunk the ship I wanted, I’ve decided to take you up on that offer. We will negotiate the trade of a ship for you at Pelican Place.” 

\--

Narcissa rarely drinks, but she thinks she might call on Dobby to bring her one of Lucius’ bottles of liquor to soothe her nerves after the day she’s had. Two vessels sprung a leak right before departure, twelve of her men fell ill from their journey back from the Spanish Island, and the vessel destined for Seaworthy is still missing. Though she suspects Bellatrix might have a hand to play in the last matter. Nonetheless, these issues would not have been so troublesome if Narcissa didn’t have more pressing issues of her own. It’s been more than a week without any new development in the case of her missing son and niece. At first, she chalked up Bellatrix’s disappearance and theirs to be nothing more than a mere coincidence. After all, her sister had a tendency of disappearing without a word. But the longer the search continues without a lead, the more her mind returns to the idea that they’ve run off with their aunt. It is a preposterous idea that she shouldn’t entertain as it leaves her tossing and turning in bed at night, but somewhere deep in the recesses of her mind, she just knows that they are together. 

Her carriage slows to a stop and the coachman climbs down from his seat, a signal that they’ve arrived at their destination. With Draco and Tonks gone, the manor feels a lot emptier. But Narcissa would rather be at home where she can still find traces of them around the corner than at the office where everything seems to ask for her attention. As she exits her carriage, she finds Dobby standing there waiting for her as usual. The little elf has served her well throughout the years, and she finds a strange comfort in the one constant thing still in her life.

“Madame Malfoy.” 

She nods at him like she normally does. “Dobby, bring me some of that liquor Lucius used to drink.” 

The elf twiddles his thumb together nervously. She hopes nothing catastrophic has happened at home while she was away. One wonders how many unfortunate events could befall upon a person within the span of a week. “What makes you so anxious this evening, Dobby? Surely, it can’t be my request for a little liquor once in a blue moon?” The elf sputters at her comment, clearly embarrassed by his mistress’ insinuation that he has an opinion about her private life. 

“No, no, Madame Malfoy.” He waves his tiny hands expressively to try to clear the miscommunication. “Dobby was not trying to impart any kind of judgment on his mistress. Dobby wants to let the mistress know that she has a guest waiting in the library.” 

“A guest?” It’s too late in the evening for a social call. In fact, it’s a rather rude time of the day to visit if one’s relation isn’t close. Dobby, clearly seeing the question on his mistress’ face, tries to offer some more details. 

“The lady… she is a Gryffindor. And she says she comes to speak to Madame Malfoy about a serious matter.” 

A serious matter. Would it concern Malfoy Trading? It’s rather strange that the Gryffindors would pay her a house visit at this time of day to discuss matters of her business. For the longest time, they’ve both steered clear of one another to avoid any kind of clash that would turn Europe’s economy upside down. Whoever it is better have a remarkable reason for bothering her this late. “Well, let’s not keep our guest waiting then.” 

She hands her scarf over to him and the elf follows close behind his mistress into the manor. 

“Should Dobby make some tea for the mistress and her guest?” Dobby asks uncertainly when they pass the kitchen.

“No, that should be fine. This guest isn’t staying long.” 

All conversation halts when Narcissa pushes the door open, and the two people standing in her library turn their attention to the new presence in the room. The woman dressed in a Gryffindor uniform presents more prominently than her male companion in his servant attire. Judging by the insignias on her coat, she should be an officer of high rank. Narcissa notices the pensive expression on her face that doesn’t falter at her arrival.

“Madame Malfoy, I presume.” The woman nods at her without missing a beat. “I am Commodore McGonagall.” 

Her voice is a tad more mature than Narcissa expects. She walks over to the seats near the fireplace. “Pray tell what other presumptions you might have that inclined you to invite yourself into my home at this hour.”

She gestures with her hand for the officer to take a seat across from her while her servant finds a corner to idle in. Dobby has also made himself scarce as he retreats to a bookshelf on the other side of the room.

“Madame Malfoy, what do you know about pirates?” 

“Commodore, that’s quite a laughable question you pose. Despite my business on the sea, surely you must know more about pirates than I do.”

“Yes, but an intelligent person must not fool themselves into thinking that there is nothing else to learn from others about the matters with which they believe they are an expert.”

The Commodore, who Narcissa would put in her late fifties, is a woman with intelligent eyes and a calm demeanor. So it doesn’t surprise her much when she doesn’t take the bait. Whether she’s here because of Bellatrix or because she’s on some kind of crusade that she thinks the owner of the biggest trading company can assist her with, she’s mightily mistaken.

“Your speech is rather perceptive, Commodore, but I must confess that I am not in the mood for such a discussion with a stranger at this hour. Please, if you have nothing further to speak on, Dobby will see you out.” 

“Madame Malfoy, if you value the reputation of your company and truthfully the state of your well-being, I would suggest that you keep at your seat for a few more minutes to answer my questions.” 

“Commodore, I must tell you that I do not take too kindly to threats. Please do not insult my intelligence with such words as I can assure you that there’s not much in this world that can scare me.” 

The Commodore tilts her head at this. Her eyes, a dark blue, now communicating a smidgen of respect. “Very well, then. I shall get straight to the point. A Gryffindor ship carrying an Earl’s daughter was ambushed by pirates the other day. Pirates sailing on one of your vessels.” 

Of all the dumb things her sister could do. She didn’t think Bellatrix would try to bring down Malfoy’s Trading in her search for Voldemort.

“Where is this information coming from?”

“We have an officer who survived the ambush that can recount the story.” 

“And you think that I have something to do with this?” Narcissa knows the kind of power she holds. No ordinary Gryffindor would dare to march into her home to accuse her of abduction without risking occupational peril. If this woman is smart, she will learn to back off. 

The Commodore’s eyes narrow in distrust. “Do you?”

“Is that a question or a statement, Commodore?” 

“I think only you know that.”

Narcissa folds her hands together and carefully schools her features into a serious expression. “I don’t have anything to do with this abduction. It came to my attention a week ago that one of my vessels had disappeared en route to a port in Seaworthy. I suspect now that it was ambushed by pirates and turned into a makeshift pirate ship of some sort. That could be the only explanation for its involvement in this matter.” 

“Surely, the only explanation,” the Commodore replies almost mechanically. 

The woman doesn’t trust Narcissa, that much she can tell. Deciding that the conversation needs to end before she reveals too much information, Narcissa stands from her seat. “It is quite late, Commodore. I’m afraid that I will have to retire for the evening. I sincerely hope that the Earl’s daughter is rescued, and that my ship returns to me in one piece.” 

“Of course.” With a gentle wave of her hand, she calls her servant over, but her eyes never leave Narcissa. 

“Shall you indulge me with the information of where this ambush occurred?” Narcissa asks, trying to sound casual. 

“A few hundred kilometers off the coast of Pelican’s Place. Shall I presume that you will launch your own efforts into this search?”

“Commodore, it seems that your presumptions about me have always been misplaced. I was merely asking out of curiosity.” 

The Commodore’s lips twitch into something Narcissa might call a grin. “Aside from the Queen, you must know that you are the most powerful woman in Europe, Madame Malfoy. Your curiosity means more than some interesting conversation over tea.” 

“Seeing as there is no tea in front of us, I’m afraid you must be mistaken then.” She doesn’t look back at the Commodore when she leaves the room. At least she has a lead now.

**Author's Note:**

> I should thank my girlfriend for introducing me to such a fantastic fandom.


End file.
